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Issue 28: July 2004

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Editorial

From the desk of the editor - Introducing current ideas, perspectives and issues, to the profession of pharmacy
Welcome to the new look i2P E-Magazine format, and we hope that you enjoy the easier access to articles, author information, and a very fast search engine. There has been insufficient time this month to import all the articles from the old site, but this will be progressively done over time. They form a great reference library and a contemporary history of pharmacy as it has evolved over the 4 years we have been publishing. Meanwhile, articles can still be accessed at: http://www.computachem.com.au/i2P/emag/Associated/EmagArchive2002.shtml

Pharmacy Models - A Look at Friendly Societies

Neil Johnston - Management Consultant Perspective
Friendly Societies have been with us in an informal way since the First Fleet, with many new settlers “passing around the hat” when a friend or associate was involved in some difficulty due to an accident, infirmity or poor health, even death and the need for a decent burial. And quite commonly, the person meeting an immigrant on disembarkation, would have most likely been a member of the same Friendly Society back in England. The Friendly Society principle was one of mutuality, in that a group represented more stability and strength, than the resources of a single individual. The first formally structured Friendly Society appeared in Australia in 1830.

Pharma-goss

Rollo Manning - A Regular Column Reporting the News Behind the News
This Month: * Friendly Society Group responds to pressure * Advertising can create a market * Rent subsidised by PBS * Democrats name wholesalers for savings- who is game to take on the Pharmacy Guild? * What Fourth Agreement? * My quote of the month

For Suppliers, It's About Compliance

Neil Retallick - A Friendly Society Perspective
At the political level, there has been a lot written about the threat of supermarkets entering the pharmacy market and taking share from existing operators. This discussion is centred around the notion of supermarkets introducing dispensaries and scheduled OTC lines into their store formats. While this debate rages amongst some of the major stakeholders in the pharmacy market, and they compete for the ear of governments, there is one key stakeholder group that is staying well away from these battle lines. The pharmaceutical companies and other suppliers to the pharmacy market are interested spectators for whom it is business as usual.

George M Eckert and Sydney Hospital 1975- 1980 : the roots of clinical pharmacy in Australia

Con Berbatis - A Pharmacy Researcher Perspective
Editor : This report by Con Berbatis contends that Dr George Eckert’s greatest contribution to health care in this country was to systematise the assessment of medication usage in Australia’s teaching hospitals and in so doing laid a foundation for clinical pharmacy research and practice in Australia.

Blowing Our Own “Virtual” Trumpet

Ken Stafford - A Consultant Pharmacist Perspective
It is pleasing to see that this newsletter is attracting the attention of people outside the pharmacy profession. Last week I received a most surprising phone call from a lady in Sydney who is arranging an IT seminar for senior health figures. Why ring me I wondered?

Rural/Remote Pharmacy Workforce - New Initiative

Karalyn Huxhagen - A Queensland PSA Councilor Perspective
A new initiative from the rural and remote pharmacy workforce development program (RRPWDP) that was announced at the end of last year is worth considering by those pharmacists in a pharia 2-6 location. (You can determine your pharia rating by going to http://www.gisca.adelaide.edu.au/projects/pharia.html ). The new initiative is called the rural pharmacist pre-registration incentive allowance and provides up to $10, 000 to pharmacies in these locations who employ a pre-registration student for a continuous twelve month period.

Government interest in Sustainable Health Policy increases

Val Johanson - A Complementary Healthcare Perspective
14 million Australians use natural health products (complementary medicines) representing many millions of voters. A recent consumer survey has shown that given a choice, 78% of consumers would prefer to take a natural health product rather than a pharmaceutical formulation. (Mayne 2004) Natural healthcare is an holistic approach to enhancing health and wellness and preventing disease and encompasses lifestyle, nutrition and supplementation. Current health policy in Australia is premised on the treatment of disease rather than health optimisation, and is resulting in an escalating healthcare Bill that was clearly enunciated in the 2002-03 Federal Budget, which included an Intergenerational Report outlining the future impact of an ageing population on Commonwealth finances.

Complementary Therapies and Pharmacy

Simon Rudderham - A Community Pharmacist Perspective
Once again on Auspharmlist, the efficacy of homeopathy is being vigorously discussed. Having studied homeopathy in order to get my naturopathic qualifications, I found it very difficult to comprehend as I had a predominantly scientific background. I found that the more I read, it provided me with more questions than it did answers. As a direct result of only having a limited understanding of this modality, I find that I do not recommend it to anybody. Yet I keep a large range of homeopathics.

Health Claims in Food

Chris Arblaster, PhD - A Consumer Self-Care Perspective
The increasing use of so-called health claims on food products has become an important issue for the self-medication industry over the last few years. There has been a plethora of new products being fortified with a range of nutritional substances and subsequently making health claims. The industry's concerns related to the apparent intention of the Australia-NZ Food Regulation Ministerial Council to permit foods to make a variety of therapeutic claims as set out in their "Policy Guidelines¨.

Digital Imaging - Some Marketing Philosophies

Les Brener - A Digital Imaging Perspective
In our last communication we mentioned the growing and rapidly booming digital trend going through the photographic industry. Latest statistics are not all that cheerful with the drop of sales of film and film processing continuing to slide down faster that anticipated. Home printing is still growing but so is the growth of printing from digital memory cards in camera stores, and especially through the Digital Photo Kiosks, which we have been discussing.